The Last Letter

34

Chapter XXXIV

The first day was more stressful than we thought.

After eating and taking a tour of the village, we finally moved around in groups to explore. And to our surprise, the village was really big. It was extended more on the back of the wet and dry market we passed by earlier and there is a lot more going on back there. There are more houses and even more residents or villagers there.

An estimate of 1,500 people is living here, quite a huge number for this village that we thought is just small.

That afternoon, walking around, taking a tour of more of the village was so tiring as the sun was scorching outside. No umbrellas or cold water could help the heat. We were all panting and sweating so hard. I don’t remember this first day being so hard in the last two years our department has been doing this program.

Suzanne was beside me. Well in fact, we were together most of the time. It is her first time doing this so I let her stick to me, answering all of her queries as much as I can. I also noticed that her excitement earlier on the bus was all gone and what was left on her face was evidence of exhaustion. She brought her camera to take pictures of the different places in the village and we thought that was a really genius move. In that way, we could revisit the places she captured when we brainstorm later. I applaud Suzanne for her ideas that make our life easier.

“Are we going to do this everyday? This is more tiring than serving customers in the restaurant every night.” She said, wiping her sweat with towels and gulping down water from her tumbler bottle. Our group was resting under the shade of a big tree. All of us, including our competent leader and vice leader, are looking like they are on the verge of giving up.

“I think it’ll get better tomorrow. Let’s do the best that we can today so tomorrow will be easier for us.” I answered leaning my back on the tree. Closing my eyes once in a while and yawning because I become sleepy as minutes pass.

I checked the time and it is only 3:30 pm but the sun is still hot as at noon. This month is supposed to be the rainy season but it was even hotter than the summer.

We continued walking around as per our leader’s command. She said that we should make the best out of this place. It will be her and the other seniors' last year anyway so we followed her even though I know we don't want to.

Thank God that time passed by quickly as we walked more around the village. The weather now has been windy as the sky turned gray in just an hour of that scorching hot weather earlier. It was getting dark so by quarter to 6pm, we walked back to the place we were staying in to get some rest and shower before dinner time.

***

We ate dinner in our own room as we discussed the ideas we got from exploring the area a while ago.

“How about we turn this into a big mall?” A second year named Justine suggested.

“Hmm.. we need to consider the road on the way here and the population of this place. With that, we need to estimate how many more people will live here for the next 10 years.” Our leader said.

“Me!” Another one said, raising his hand. “I’m thinking of something like an exclusive residential area for high profile people. This area is nice and can be improved furthermore.” He added.

“That’s possible. But this area is really big. We should aim for something that will take a lot more space than just a bunch of big houses.” Our vice leader answered.

“I agree. And of course, rich families will hire architects to design just one house. We need to plan to maximize all of this place, not just a single area.” the leader replied.

“Hey August. Why haven’t you participated in the group discussion yet.” Suzanne walked up to me and sat by my side. While they’re sharing some good ideas in front, I was in the corner because I don’t have any ideas that I can share. I still want to search the area more to come up with something.

“I don't have any ideas yet Suzanne. What about you?”

“Hmm since I work for the food industry, I suggested a theme park or a group of indigenous or traditional restaurants. Since this area is very nature abundant and has really nice people, I like to preserve that. I like to build something that won’t affect nature that much plus improve the living conditions and work opportunities of these people.” She answered.

I nodded and couldn't help being amazed by what she thought. In all the times I’ve been witnessing her love for her course, I realized how perfect Suzanne is to become an Architect. Not only is she creative and draws well, she is also very passionate in her studies even if she is working every night. I still don’t know how she does all of that and how her tiny body handles both her studies and work.

“Wow. That’s an amazing idea Suzanne. I wish I could’ve also thought of that. I usually go by the book, I’m not so creative so I can’t still think of anything.” Well, that’s true for me. In doing my plates, most of the time, I just go over hundreds of books in the library just to have something in mind.

“They actually added my ideas to the list of possible proposals. Don’t worry, August, you just need more time. Maybe then, you’ll have the most amazing ideas out of all of us. You can do it!” She raised both of her thumbs and smiled to cheer me up. For some reason, her smile made my heart beat a little faster.

I smiled at her and chuckled. I unconsciously reached my hand to pat her head but I stopped midway when I realized what I was about to do. We stared at each other with confused faces. I then just scratched my head and laughed at my embarrassment. She laughed awkwardly too and turned her face to the group’s discussion. And there, we sat in silence while others keep talking and sharing their thoughts in front of us.

What am I doing? And what was that earlier? I asked myself inside my mind. I actually have done that many times before. I would just occasionally think of Suzanne’s funny moments and then smile or chuckle by myself. When I tutor her at my house or at the library, I would also stare at her for a minute and come back to reality whenever she calls my name. Out of all of that, this is the first time I was urged to physically do something to her which is patting her head.

I let it off my mind and participated in the discussion to avoid this awkwardness I am feeling.

The night went by productively as we thought of so many things we could do for the proposal. By 10 pm, we all went to sleep. Well, except for me. I was still up when I thought that all of my teammates were sleeping. I am just staring at the ceiling and counting sheep which is something I always do when I want to sleep at night. It was weird since I felt so sleepy earlier and now I have a hard time sleeping.

I was counting my 456th sheep when I felt my pager vibrate under my pillow.

“Goodnight August.” The text said. I looked at who the sender was. And it made my heart beat fast without me, noticing.

It was Suzanne. I looked at where her bed was and there she was sitting, waving her hand to me. I waved back and texted her “Goodnight Suzanne”. I saw that she read that and she laid down on her bed again and covered herself with her blanket.

I smiled as I put my pager back under my pillow. I think I closed my eyes by then and slept well after that.

***

The next day is just like the same day. Tiring, composed mainly of walking and exploring around, measuring the area, eating, discussing, and sleeping. Well except that we walked around in groups of five that afternoon, nothing out of the ordinary happened on that day.

By the third and final day in the village, it was like a bonus day for us. We could explore anywhere we like by group or individual, as long as we keep in mind to document and track where we will be going since it is quite easy to be lost if we go outside the village.

We will go back to the university in the afternoon so we should be back at the inn at 3pm. I finished organizing my stuff the evening before so after eating breakfast, I excitedly hurried outside because this is my favorite part of the trip ever.

The head of the village said that it is generally safe inside and outside the village. One thing we should note is that there would be prey animals like snakes in the forest-like part of the village. Other than that, we could freely walk around and be safer in the areas with residents.

To be continued…